Germany sends first weapons shipment to Iraqi Kurds

Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, started flying weapons to Iraqi Kurds early morning Thursday - an operation that it says will eventually see it equip around 10,000 Kurdish fighters with 70 million euros of weapons. SIA reports quoting the AA.

According to a statement on the Bundeswehr's website, among the 25 tons of cargo on board the 2 a.m. Royal Netherlands Air Force KDC-10 were 50 bazookas and ammunition, 520 G3 rifles and 20 type MG3 machine guns.

It said that the flight arrived around 3 a.m. at the British base of Akrotiri in Cyprus.

The shipment - the second of which should follow in October - also includes medical equipment for first aid personnel and 4.000 thousand protective goggles.

By the end of the operation, Germany anticipates around 10,000 Kurdish fighters to be equipped with around 70 million euros of weapons from Bundeswehr stocks, according to the statement.

The German government announced in August that it would send more than 600 tons of military equipment and weapons to the Iraqi Kurds, but ruled out joining airstrikes or sending troops to the region to fight ISIL militants which have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more in Iraq and Syria in a bid to establish a cross-border "caliphate."

The operation was coordinated by the European Air Transport Command (EATC) in Eindhoven.

Bundeswehr official Lieutenant Colonel Klaus Brandel told the Anadolu Agency last week that the armed forces would also give arms training to about 30 Kurdish fighters in Germany.